Machine for making metal balls.



11.9.. 729,519. PATENT D MAY 26, 1903.

H. A. WILLIAMS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING METAL BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 6 slums-SHEET 1.

PATENTBD MAY 2.6, 19.03.

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H. A. WILLIAMS. MACHINE FOR MAKING METAL BALLS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 30, 1902. '30 10mm.

No. 729,519. 'PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

H. A. WILLIAMS. MACHINE FOR MAKING METAL BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

8 smms4nm "a.

NO. 729,519. PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

H. A. WILLIAMS. MACHINE FOR MAKING METAL BALLS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 30, 1902.

H0 MODEL 6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

x 5 W866 e6 z I vvu e 71%07 No. 729,519. I PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

v H. A. WILLIAMS. MACHINE FOR MAKING METAL BALLS.

. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 80, 902.

N0 MODEL. 6 SHEETSSHEET 5,

No. 729,519 PATENTED MAY 26, 1903. H. A. WILLIAMS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING METAL BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1902.

NO MODEL. 6 SHEETSSHEET 6.

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Ni'iED STATES Patented May 26, 1903.

ATENT Y Fries;

HENRY ALEXIS \VlLLL XMS, ()l QUINCY, MASSACHUS 1' TS, ASSIGNOR 'l()iCliMElt (j.'lASSltl'l"l, ()l EAST MILTON, MASSACIIUSE""S.

MACHlNE FOR MAKING- METAL BALLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part or Letters Patent No. 729,519, dated May 26,1903.

Application filed llugust30,19OZ. dc nl NO- 121.666. N model-J To allwhom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY ALnXIs \VIL- LIAMS, a citizen of theUnitedStates, residing, at Quincy, in the eountyof Norfolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for MakingMetal Balls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for making cold-rolled metal halls, andhas for its obcombined with spirally -grooved finishingrolls adapted toreceive the balls from the forming-dies,'and means whereby each ball asit comes from the forming-dies is properly placed at the required timebetween the spirally-grooved-iinishing-rolls and supported in placewhile being rolled and ,linished, as hereinaftefiparticularly described;and my invem tion also consists in certain other combinationsof partsand details of construction hero- .inafterfullydescribed, and pointedout in lllO claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan of a machine for makingmetal balls constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same. is. is a longitudinai vertical section onthe line 3 ii of Fig. ll. Fig. i is a transverse vertical section on theline -l. l of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section on theline 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 0 is a transverse vertical section on the line 0o of Fig.1. r 7 isalfrontelevatioil of thomachine. Fig. of isa-irenlarged longitudinal section of the front end oi. the

machine. similar to that shown in l. ig.h..

Figs. E), i and 11 are diagrams illustrating the progressive operationof the dies in forming he hallsl'rom acold metal rod. Figs. 12 and 13are details to be referred to. big, l-L is an enlarged front view of thehalldorming dies, showing the position between the same of the rod fromwhich the halls are formed.

In the said drawings, 25 represents the bed of the machine. 26 is thedriving shaft,

mounted in suitable hearings secured to standards rising fromthehed 25,said shaft 2o carrying the balance-wheel 27 and fast and loose pulleys2s 29. 'lothe shaft 26 is also secured a pinion 2J0, which meshes with asite sides of the said pinion, whereby they are caused to rotate'in thesame direction, said gears being fast on twohorizontal shafts 38 39,supported in bearings in the standards33 3i and also at their front endsin boxes i0 41, supported in a standard 123, rising from the front endof the bed 25. I

To the shafts lie 35!; outside the standard it, are rigidly secured twodies L23 it for forming the hails from a cold round metal rod 45, whichsupported by a gnide-plato 24, secured to an adjacent pol'lion of themachine, said guide-plate hei ng provided with a removahle hashing 3,Figs. 3, 7, and 8, throughthe conical interior of which the rod 45 ispassed sists of a disk keyed to its shaft and held in' place thereon hyawasher and a nut 46 and having formed around its periphery a spiralgroove 17, the outeredge of which is of constantly-inereasing diameterfrom front to rear at which latter point the outer edges of the saidspiral grooves of the two disks come into contact to sever the ball fromthe rod The-outer edge of this groove -37 also c0nstantly decreases inwidth as it winds around the dislc from front to rear, at which latterterminates in a sharp edge. in Fig. id 1 5 is shown as just enteredbetween the dicta-and they revolve the'rod isdraw'n inward by the spiralgrooves, assuming after a complete revolution of the dies the positionshown in Fig. J, with a hall partially shaped thereon. ()n the secondrovolutionof the dies the rod is drawn still. farther inward, as shownin Fig. 10, when the first ball will be twothirds completed, anotherloallbeing partially formed behind it. On the third revolution of thedies, the rod having been still farther i 2 Y Jeanie diameter of the'finished and rod from which it is forme ly? The shafts 38 39 areextended forward beball will benearly completed, the second balltwo-thirds completed, while the third ball will be in the same partialstate of completion as the first ball shown in Fig. 9. During the nextrevolution of the dies the first ball is severed from the rod, beingcompletely formed, as shown in Fig, 8, and then drops through a verticalchute or conductor onto a rest 51, as shown in Figs. 8 and 12, fromwhich it is afterward transferred to the finishing-rolls, to behereinafter described.

By progressively forming a series'of balls from a rod one behind theother in the manner above described, it will be obvious that there willbe no waste of stock whatever, the end of the rod from which the ball'issevered being left of'hemispherical shape and forming the fronthalfofthe next ball to be sevcred. I I

It will be seen from the foregoing that the outeredgesof the two spiralgrooves 47 of the disks 434 i progressively act ir'runison on the rod tocompress and shape the metal, while the botl'oms of the said 'two spiralgrooves are at the same horiz'ontal distance apart from front to rearthroughout their convolutions, this distance corresponding to the Asthe'dies become worn from grindin it becomes necessaryw move one of theballforming 'dies' toward the other in order to maintain them ifperfectoperative contact, and I therefore provide the die-shaft 38 with auniversal joint 52, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and employ anadjusting-screw 53, passing through the standard 42 and bearing upon thebox 4070f saidshaft 88.

youd the nuts 46, wherethey are of reduced diameter, said forward endsresting in halfboxes 48 49, supportedin a transverse yoke 5&, which isprovided at one end with an-adjusting-screw 55, beai ing against theadjacent box 49, whereby said box may be forced toward the box 48 .andthe outer ends of the die-shafts thus prevented from springing apart, asis necessary to enable the dies to be constantly maintained in operativecontact. Beneath the long pinion 35 and on each side thereof aretwoshort horizontal shafts 56 57, having theirbearings in the standards33 34 and carrying short piii-ions 58 59,'which engage the pinion 35, byWhich-they are both rotated in the same direction. The forward, ends ofthe shafts 56 57=are squared, as shown in Fig. 5, and are connected bycouplings 60 (El with the squared ends-pf the journals of two parallelfinishing-rolls 62 63, having their hearings in boxes 64 65 supported-ina bracket (36, the journals at the opposite or front ends of these rollsresting in similar boxes 67 68, supported in anotheribi 'acket 69, eachbracket beingprovided with n adjusting-screw 70, hearing against the boxadjacent thereto, said adjusting-screws serving tokeep the peripheriesof the finishing-rollsin contact with each V other, the front ends ofsaid finishing rolls ex-' tending through anopening in the front of thestandard 42. Each of the finishing-rolls 62 63 is provided with a spiralsemicircular groove 71, extending continuously around it from end toend, the grooves of the said two rolls registering with each other andforming in a horizontal plane passing through the axes of these rolls,Where their peripheries are in contact, circular openings correspondingexactly in diameter to that of the finished balls.

The rest 5], upon which the hall falls from the forming-dies, consistsof a U-shaped pro.- jecti'on at the inner end of a tubular casting 7%,provided at its outer end with an arm73, which is seen red by a screw 7-to the bracket 69." The casting 72, thus supported in a horizontal:position, forms a guide for a plunger rod or pusher 75, to the outer endof which is secured a fiat spring 76, also fastened at its opposite endto the bracket 69 and acting to force the plunger inward againsta ballupon the rest 51 when permitted to do so by a projection?! on the innerside of said spring dropping into a notch 78 in the face-of a cam 79,formed on or secured to the end of the front journal of thefinishing-roll 63, as shown in Figs. 8 and 13, the plunger when thusthrust inward forcing the hall on the rest 51 into the opening formed bythe commencement oi. thewwo spiral grooves '71 oi the finishingrolls,the bal being then carried along within and by said spiral grooves in ahorizontal plane, passing thsough the axes of the rolls,

until it reaches the opposite ends of said rolls,

whenit drops out through an opening formed by theterznin'ation ofthegrooves similar to that at the opposite ends of the rolls where itentered, the ball then falling through a hole 80 in the bed 25 (shown inl igs. l and 3) into a suitable receptacle placed to receive it. Theball while traveling through the grooves of the finishing-rolls ismaintained in a horizontal plane by means of two guard-plates 81 82, oneabove and the other beneath the point of contact of the peripheries ofthe roils, as shown in Figsfi, 6, and 8, said plat-es being beveled attheir edges to enable them to more closely fit between the rolls and theupper guard-plate 81 being secured to the brackets 66 69 and the lowerplate 82 to the bed 25, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 6. The circular openings formed by the grooves 71are of slightly less diaineterthan that of the ball as itcorncs from theforming dies, whereby a certain amount of compression of the ball isproduced as it is carried from end to end of the finishing-rolls. Thefinishing-rolls maize two complete revolutions to each single revolutionof the forming-dies, and consequently there will be one ball only inevery alternate convolution of the spiral grooves 2 1, as shown in Figs.3 and 8. v V

Births-universal rotary motion of the balis as they travel from end toend of the finishing-rolls, as described, the metal is rendered more16.61156 and homogeneous, thus reducing ICC the liability of fracture toa minimum, While the surface of the bali becomes polished, prodncing e,finish, so that the hall aiter being hardened requires very littlefnrther'polish- Lure of metal balls.

The shove-described machine may be adapt for malling'balls of varioussizes, it being merely necessary to remove the ball-forming dies andfinishingrolis and substitute others having grooves of the requiredsize, the bush- 23 of the supporting-guide, through which the rod to thedies, being also reey another of suitable size adapted to ceive supportthe rod in its proper cen tral position with respect to said dies.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Leiters latent,is-

i rnetai-hellricaking machine comprisdies for forming the balls from arod, soiiy-grooved rolls for rolling and finishing d hells, a rest forreceiving said hails from dies, as reciprocating plunger for transtheballs from said rest to said fin- -roils, and means for operating said Ametal-ball-meking machine comprising pair of dies for forming the ballsfrom a rod, spirally-grooved rolls for rolling and finishing said halls,a rest for receiving said bails one by one from said dies, areciprocatolnnger for" transferring the balls from rest to saidfinishing-rolls, a spring and for actuating seidpinnger, and means orholding the balls in place Filiifi being 0prsted upon by thefinishing-rolls.

3. A inetel-bail-making machine comprising dies for forming the callsfrom a rod, spirally-grooved rolls for rolling and finishing said is, arest for receiving the balls from the reciprocating plunger fortransferthe hails from said rest to said finishingii mesns for actuatingsaid plunger, and ti el guide-plates arranged between said si -rollsabove and beneath the same oils while travelin through the same. inmetel-ball-meking machine, a pair advantages hitherto nnattained in theihe calls Within the grooves of' of dies rotating in the same directionfor forming the balls from erod, spirally-groovedroils for rolling andfinishing said calls, a rest for receiving the balisfroin the dies, achute for conducting the calls from the forming-dies to the rest, areciprocating plunger for transferring the balls from said rest to saidfinishing-rolls, menus for actuating said plunger, and means for holdingsaid halis in @laee within the grooves of the finishing-rolls whiletraveling through the same.

5. In a machine for making metal halls,- the combination of a pair ofdies for forming the bells from a rod, each of said dies consisting ofa. disk provided with e hell-forming groove extending spirally aroundits periphcry and having its outer edge of gradually increasing heightfrom front to rear, a pair of finishing-rolls each provided with esensicircnier groove extending spirally around its periphery, wherebycircular openings are formed at the points of content of the edges ofthe op'gosite grooves of said rolls, a rest for receiving each call as1v drops from the forming-dies and holding it in position enoer thegrooves of the finishing-rolls, means for transferring the balls fromsaid rest to said finishing-rolls, and means for holding seid cellswithin the grooves of said rolls while traveling; through the same.

6. In a machine for making metal calls, the combination with the hallforniing dies and their shafts, the front end of the latter beingextended beyond the dies, of yoire fitting over the outer ends of saidshafts and provided at its ,ends with journal-hoses for the same, and anadjusting-screw at one end of said yoke bearing against the journal-horaadjacent thereto, whereby the dies are vented from springing apart andmaintained in perfect operative contest with each other.

Witness my hand this 20th day of August, A, D. 1902.

' XlS VJi'LL-EAMS.

" J. J. SULLIVAN.

